3:21 “A noise is heard on the hilltops.
It is the sound of the people of Israel crying and pleading to their gods.
Indeed they have followed sinful ways; 5
they have forgotten to be true to the Lord their God. 6
7:21 The Lord said to the people of Judah, 12 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 13 says: ‘You might as well go ahead and add the meat of your burnt offerings to that of the other sacrifices and eat it, too! 14
10:11 You people of Israel should tell those nations this:
‘These gods did not make heaven and earth.
They will disappear 15 from the earth and from under the heavens.’ 16
29:4 “The Lord God of Israel who rules over all 24 says to all those he sent 25 into exile to Babylon from Jerusalem, 26
48:35 I will put an end in Moab
to those who make offerings at her places of worship. 39
I will put an end to those who sacrifice to other gods.
I, the Lord, affirm it! 40
50:18 So I, the Lord God of Israel who rules over all, say: 41
‘I will punish the king of Babylon and his land
just as I punished the king of Assyria.
51:10 The exiles from Judah will say, 42
‘The Lord has brought about a great deliverance for us! 43
Come on, let’s go and proclaim in Zion
what the Lord our God has done!’
51:56 For a destroyer is attacking Babylon. 44
Her warriors will be captured;
their bows will be broken. 45
For the Lord is a God who punishes; 46
he pays back in full. 47
1 tn The Hebrew particle (the vav [ו] consecutive), which is often rendered in some English versions as “and” and in others is simply left untranslated, is rendered here epexegetically, reflecting a summary statement.
2 sn The Hebrew idiom (literally “I will speak my judgments against”) is found three other times in Jeremiah (4:12; 39:5; 52:9), where it is followed by the carrying out of the sentence. Here the carrying out of the sentence precedes in v. 15.
3 tn Heb “on them.” The antecedent goes back to Jerusalem and the cities of Judah (i.e., the people in them) in v. 15.
4 tn I.e., idols.
5 tn Heb “A sound is heard on the hilltops, the weeping of the supplication of the children of Israel because [or indeed] they have perverted their way.” At issue here is whether the supplication is made to Yahweh in repentance because of what they have done or whether it is supplication to the pagan gods which is evidence of their perverted ways. The reference in this verse to the hilltops where idolatry was practiced according to 3:2 and the reference to Israel’s unfaithfulness in the preceding verse make the latter more likely. For the asseverative use of the Hebrew particle (here rendered “indeed”) where the particle retains some of the explicative nuance; cf. BDB 472-73 s.v. כִּי 1.e and 3.c.
6 tn Heb “have forgotten the
7 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God Israel.”
sn Compare the use of similar titles in 2:19; 5:14; 6:6 and see the explanation in the study note at 2:19. In this instance the title appears to emphasize the
8 tn Or “Make good your ways and your actions.” J. Bright’s translation (“Reform the whole pattern of your conduct”; Jeremiah [AB], 52) is excellent.
9 tn Heb “place” but this might be misunderstood to refer to the temple.
10 tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.
11 tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.
12 tn The words “The
13 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3.
14 tn Heb “Add your burnt offerings to your [other] sacrifices and eat the meat!” See the following sn for explanation. This is an example of the rhetorical use of the imperative for a sarcastic challenge. Cf. GKC 324 §110.a; cf. Amos 4:4, “Go to Bethel and sin!”
sn All of the burnt offering, including the meat, was to be consumed on the altar (e.g., Lev 1:6-9). The meat of the other sacrifices could be eaten by the priest who offered the sacrifice and the person who brought it (e.g., Lev 7:16-18, 32). Since, however, the people of Judah were making a mockery of the sacrificial system by offering sacrifices while disobeying the law, the
15 tn Aram “The gods who did not make…earth will disappear…” The sentence is broken up in the translation to avoid a long, complex English sentence in conformity with contemporary English style.
16 tn This verse is in Aramaic. It is the only Aramaic sentence in Jeremiah. Scholars debate the appropriateness of this verse to this context. Many see it as a gloss added by a postexilic scribe which was later incorporated into the text. Both R. E. Clendenen (“Discourse Strategies in Jeremiah 10,” JBL 106 [1987]: 401-8) and W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:324-25, 334-35) have given detailed arguments that the passage is not only original but the climax and center of the contrast between the
sn This passage is carefully structured and placed to contrast the
17 tn Heb “Cursed is the person who does not listen to the terms of this covenant.” “This covenant” is further qualified in the following verse by a relative clause. The form of the sentence and the qualification “my” before covenant were chosen for better English idiom and to break up a long sentence which really extends to the middle of v. 5.
18 tn Heb “I will give them a heart to know me that I am the
19 tn Heb “with all their heart.”
20 tn Heb “Make good your ways and your actions.” For the same expression see 7:3, 5; 18:11.
21 tn For the idiom and translation of terms involved here see 18:8 and the translator’s note there.
sn The
22 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
sn See study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the significance of this title.
23 tn Heb “Give them a charge to their masters saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel, “Thus you shall say unto your masters…”’” The sentence is broken up in conformity with contemporary English style.
24 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.”
sn See study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for the explanation of this title.
25 tn Heb “I sent.” This sentence exhibits a rapid switch in person, here from the third person to the first. Such switches are common to Hebrew poetry and prophecy (cf. GKC 462 §144.p). Contemporary English, however, does not exhibit such rapid switches and it creates confusion for the careful reader. Such switches have regularly been avoided in the translation.
sn Elsewhere Nebuchadnezzar is seen as the one who carried them into exile (cf. 27:20; 29:1). Here and in v. 14 the
26 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
27 tn Heb “Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” For this title see 7:3 and the study notes on 2:19.
28 sn The significance of the symbolic act performed by Jeremiah as explained here was a further promise (see the “again” statements in 31:4, 5, 23 and the “no longer” statements in 31:12, 29, 34, 40) of future restoration beyond the destruction implied in vv. 3-5. After the interruption of exile, normal life of buying and selling of fields, etc. would again be resumed and former property rights would be recognized.
29 tn Or “to thousands of generations.” The contrast of showing steadfast love to “thousands” to the limitation of punishing the third and fourth generation of children for their parents’ sins in Exod 20:5-6; Deut 5:9-10; Exod 34:7 has suggested to many commentators and translators (cf., e.g., NRSV, TEV, NJPS) that reference here is to “thousands of generations.” The statement is, of course, rhetorical emphasizing God’s great desire to bless as opposed to the reluctant necessity to punish. It is part of the attributes of God spelled out in Exod 34:6-7.
30 tn Heb “pays back into the bosom of their children the sin of their parents.”
31 tn Heb “Nothing is too hard for you who show…and who punishes…the great [and] powerful God whose name is Yahweh of armies, [you who are] great in counsel…whose eyes are open…who did signs…” Jer 32:18-22 is a long series of relative clauses introduced by participles or relative pronouns in vv. 18-20a followed by second person vav consecutive imperfects carrying on the last of these relative clauses in vv. 20b-22. This is typical of hymnic introductions to hymns of praise (cf., e.g., Ps 136) but it is hard to sustain the relative subordination which all goes back to the suffix on “hard for you.” The sentences have been broken up but the connection with the end of v. 17 has been sacrificed for conformity to contemporary English style.
32 tn Heb “the sword.” The figure has been interpreted for the sake of clarity.
33 tn Heb “Thus says the
34 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 14, 15).
35 tn Heb “out of the house of bondage.”
sn This refers to the Mosaic covenant, initiated at Mount Sinai and renewed on the plains of Moab. The statement “I brought you out of Egypt, out of the house of bondage” functions as the “historical prologue” in the Ten Commandments which is the
36 tn Heb “made a covenant, saying.” This was only one of several stipulations of the covenant. The form used here has been chosen as an indirect way of relating the specific stipulation that is being focused upon to the general covenant that is referred to in v. 13.
37 tn Heb “There shall not be cut to Jonadab son of Rechab a man standing before me all the days.” For the first part of this idiom see 33:17-18 where it is applied to David always having a descendant to occupy the throne and the Levites will always have priests to offer up sacrifices. For the latter part of the idiom “to stand before” referring to service see BDB 764 s.v. עָמַד 1.e and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 1:2; 2 Kgs 3:14; Jer 15:19; Deut 10:8. As comparison with those passages will show, it refers to attending on, or serving a superior, a king, or the
38 tn Heb “Thus says the
sn Their “request” is that Jeremiah would tell them where to go and what to do (v. 3).
39 tn Heb “high place[s].” For the meaning and significance of this term see the study note on 7:31.
40 tn Heb “Oracle of the
41 tn Heb “Therefore thus says Yahweh of armies, the God of Israel.” The first person is again adopted because the
42 tn The words “The exiles from Judah will say” are not in the text but are implicit from the words that follow. They are supplied in the translation to clearly identify for the reader the referent of “us.”
43 tn There is some difference of opinion as to the best way to render the Hebrew expression here. Literally it means “brought forth our righteousnesses.” BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 7.b interprets this of the “righteous acts” of the people of Judah and compares the usage in Isa 64:6; Ezek 3:20; 18:24; 33:13. However, Judah’s acts of righteousness (or more simply, their righteousness) was scarcely revealed in their deliverance. Most of the English versions and commentaries refer to “vindication” i.e., that the
44 tn Heb “for a destroyer is coming against her, against Babylon.”
45 tn The Piel form (which would be intransitive here, see GKC 142 §52.k) should probably be emended to Qal.
46 tn Or “God of retribution.”
47 tn The infinitive absolute emphasizes the following finite verb. Another option is to translate, “he certainly pays one back.” The translation assumes that the imperfect verbal form here describes the